Masu sakazuki

Very old measure converted into a sake cup and named "Roen", The House of Immortals: The Garden of Lang Peak on Mount Kunlun where the eight Taoist immortals and the Queen Mother of the West reside (Langyuan in Chinese).

The artwork is adorned with a humorous Chinese-style poem called "Horse Piss" (馬尿) and a painting of a drunken immortal.

The poem by Minagawa Kien - 皆川淇園 (1734-1807), signed Roku Kien saku, Noun seal

“The night is dark in the bushes, an old drunken immortal, emerging from the cave, carrying a sack of gravel stones, in exchange for wine/beer” and “a wine / sake cup (sakazuki)” and “made in the early summer of the year of kinoe-tatsu (1784), made by Omin gaizan”

Painting by Totoki Baigai - 十時梅崖 (1749-1804), signed Baigai, Baigai seal

The craftsman Omin gaizan - 桜珉外山 (? - ?), signed Omin tozan zo, Ryuso seal.

The name Omin meaning "the cherry tree man", it is possible that this measure is made of the wood of this fruit tree.

Masu were traditionally used to measure an amount of rice, beans or even sake.
This very old measure, probably over 500 years old and respected for its great age, has been converted into a sake cup. The gold lacquer decoration is sumptuous and attests to the talent of the artists that applied. On one side, the caricature of a drunken immortal appears, along with the signatures and stamps of the three artists.